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Of course we aren't happy with the way that move has turned out thus far. And, that's why you brought it up in the first place.

Signage at Fenway - probably not that significant Advertising on NESN - probably somewhat significant Broadcast fees for all non-game programming on NESN - when you consider that a part-owner of the Sox is a very successful TV exec, this is probably the most significant Japanese fans at Fenway - this won't increase revenues from tickets because they are already selling out games, but I'll bet there's a little spike in Fenway tours if they come to see him The potential to make money outside of general revenues certainly exists. This guy is like Lebron James in Japan. No, it probably won't be enough to recover the entire posting fee. That said, it will certainly be more than what they get from the Japanese market now, which is nothing.

I don't doubt that they would have accepted something less. But your point about this being a good fit for the O's is kind of what I've been maintaining all along. And, that was the only reason I got involved in the thread. Jacksonian is busy scurrying after Cashman with a buffing wheel for his nutsack on every trade the Yankees have made calling them rapings. In both cases (Sheffield and Wright) the other team got better too. Not what I'd call a raping.

Plenty of other things make sense. Like, perhaps, they didn't believe media "sources"/speculation. Or that their evaluations had him costing more than the $3M + Reliever to replace Britton. Those make sense. Them not reading the sports section of the local paper, or following media coverage of the hot stove season at all, makes very little sense.

Surprised it wasn't Ugla, although Ramirez was deserving.

They don't read the sports section of the local paper? Come on, you can't really believe that.

Houston is entering the tail end of Berkman's prime and they just extended Biggio. This doesn't suggest rebuild to me, and moving Oswalt will probably only occur when they start that process. They just lost Clemens and Pettitte (probably), so they have money to burn. If anything, I expect them to be serious contenders for the coveted FA pitchers. If they don't get unlucky with injuries, Milwaukee looks like the class of the NL Central going into next year. Good pitching staff and loaded with young talent all over the field. Sheets is the franchise pitcher, but Davis is a FA after '07, so perhaps they would move him. SD made the playoffs with an off year from Peavy. They are another team that looks good moving forward with a bunch of good young talent, and rumors have it that Wells may actually give it another go with them. Trading Peavy now seriously hurts their chances. I'm not saying it can't happen, but these are some of the game's best pitchers. Beckett cost the Sox their best position prospect and a top pitching prospect. He had less track record than either of them, so I don't think discussions take place unless Hughes is involved. All indications point to Cashman not moving Hughes in any deal, so I'm skeptical that this is a possibility. Stranger things have happened though.

Already posted this, and it didn't even require you to follow a link, so perhaps you should heed your advice about reading things. ERA+ accounts for league (and park). The best period of Jaret Wright's career was when he was pitching with Mazzone as his pitching coach. Look, I agree that Baltimore struggles due to poor management. But is it so unrealistic for me to believe that they were aware of these rumors that the Yankees were going to let Wright go? Regardless of the folly of some of their moves, they are still paid professionals operating a big league club. There's no way they didn't know about these stories. For some reason, they thought they needed to act now in order to get him, so it's a safe bet that they didn't put much credence into them. Otherwise, they could have just signed him when the FA season begins and kept Britton.

So I'm supposed to think you know about revenues when you claim the Sox and Yankees have equitable revenue streams? Only a complete an utter moron thinks this is true. Looks like you make the club. You know about free-agent compensation? Right, that's why you said they wouldn't get draft picks for Sheffield had they let him go because of his off year. Wrong again. He never got classified by Elias because they picked up his option, but Gagne made it as a type-A because they consider injuries and past success, just like I said. This is exactly what would have happened with Sheff. Keep showing us what you know, just provide the necessary microscope to see it. Show me where my prediction was wrong, go ahead. You can't. I didn't make one. I only said that people were overrating Sheffield's trade value. You started off thinking you'd get Lidge for him. What you got, while full of potential, is no where near the proven commodity Lidge has been. I said you'd have to pick up salary to get good value in return. They didn't have to pick up salary, but they didn't get good value either. They got good potential. You are losing IQ points? Son, you need to have some first to lose them.

They still need to replace Britton. Perhaps they go with MiLB options and it was a true cost saving move, but if they replace him with someone on the market, there goes the savings. I don't think Baltimore makes that move if they think Wright is going to hit the market. Sure, by trading for him they save money on him and assure they get him, but it creates another hole. Angelos is not averse to spending money. Keeping Britton and signing Wright makes much more sense. I'm unsure as to why any one would lend credence to anything the NY Post reports. They make a happy living on being wrong in regards to roster moves.

I don't know, maybe I'm coming around to see it your way Jackson. Devern Hansack was awesome in his cup of coffee. The Sox have some real value there. More depth for the staff. [/sarcasm] There's a reason nobody is listing this guy as part of the legit SP options for the Sox next year. Same thing goes with Tavarez as a SP. They are the guys you use when the s*** hits the fan. They are not who you want to count on going into the season. Same principle holds for Karstens and Rasner. Count them as options for the Yankees all you want, but you aren't fooling anyone.

ERA+ accounts for that, and the best pitching of his career occurred under Mazzone. Yes, a lot of Mazzone's success was due to having talented pitchers, but he appears to have gotten a lot of production out of his talent, which is what the pitching coach's job is. It is for this very reason that the O's had a horrible year last year. He didn't have much to work with. Mazzone is one of the game's best pitching coaches, and I think he'll help Wright out next year. This won't put the O's over the top by any stretch of the imagination, but he'll improve their rotation.

Damn, if only the Orioles had the internet.

Why are people assuming Cashman was going to buy him out? Because that's what they would have done? Newsflash, none of you work in baseball ops for a reason. I haven't seen that reported anywhere, so lets not give somebody credit for something that didn't happen. If the Orioles had any inclination to believe he would have been available for money only, they would have waited. Right, because the Yankees can force them to sign with them. There are strong indications that Schmidt isn't interested in leaving the west coast. And, while Zito has expressed interest in the NY market, there's another team with WIN-NOW written all over them and ever more grave needs in the rotation (and they have a GM not afraid of handing out big $$). No guarantees there. Wright reuniting with Mazzone is relevant. I mean, it has to be with someone like you who wanted to congratulate the Yankees for deciding where Sheff went. If they get credit there, they get blame here. Trading Wright, while not the fear inducing player Sheff can be, to the O's was the worst possible place. His career best was with Mazzone, and they play the O's 19 times. Be consistent.

Arroyo and Wright do belong in the same sentence when you are discussing SP depth. The Yakees don't have that right now. The fact that you bring up Rasner, Karstens, and Pavano as legit depth options for them right now says a lot about how far you are reaching. Pavano has pitched 100 innings in the last two-years. Even if he isn't hurt, you think throwing a guy who hasn't pitched against ML hitters in over 18 months into the AL East is a good option? Rasner and Karstens are AAAA players. That's like saying the Sox had SP depth with DiNardo, Pauley, and Gabbard.

This is a raping? Wow. Britton is a decent looking youngster, but look at the cost. The Yankees aren't deep at SP and they just gave away an option. Hell, the Sox were deep at SP going into last year when they traded away Arroyo and we saw how quickly he could have been used. Don't get me wrong, I see good potential for the Yankees here, but I don't see a raping. Especially when you consider Wright is being matched up with the pitching coach who is the reason the Yankees signed him in the first place, which could serve to make a division foe a little tougher. I don't see a clear-cut winner in this one.

It's interesting you use that word in red. Considering how little understanding you have shown for revenues, revenue sharing, free-agent compensation, and modern statistics it's impossible to believe your opinion about Sheff was anything more than hope. In other words, you just posted what you want to happen, and then congratulate yourself for being "right" in your non-analysis. Luck is very interesting word, and it seems to fit well here. You can't answer my post about payroll fairness because you've got nothing on it, and you are good at showing it.

Holy f***. What a tool. You've been wrong on numerous occassions about how things work, and you go off like this the one time you were right. Hilarious. Seriously, the sleeping bit, it's just not cutting it. A genius like you has to have some material that doesn't leave people unsure whether or not they are being insulted. Try again.

Sanchez was like 7th on their young pitcher depth chart. Verlander, Bonderman, Robertson, Miller, Miner, and Tata are a good group going forward.

Drew's the better talent, hands down, but he's also the bigger risk. He's more risky because he'll cost considerably more and he's just as much of a DL Warrior as Trot is. I'll go with the optimistic answer and say Drew.

This deal is a good fit from both ends. Both dealt from depth to fill a need. Both sides have some risk involved. I will say I'm a little surprised that Dombrowski extended Sheff, although that may have been the price of having a happy Sheff, and you get screwed if you don't have that.

Whatever the bid is, I don't think it will go on the bottom line in regards to payroll. I imagine it will be viewed as an investment fee to a new market. I know merchandising and broadcast rights for the games get split 30 ways in the general MLB revenues. But there's money to make via RSN in Japan, corporate sponsorships at Fenway, advertising at Fenway, and post-game NESN broadcasts. The only thing I think that will dig into the payroll budget will be his signing salary. The cap just went from ~$135M to ~$148M. Add to that $13M the salary of Foulke ($7.5M), Trot (~$8M), Loretta ($3M), Seanez ($4M), Gonzo ($3M), & Wells ($5M) - let me know who I'm forgetting - and they will be ~$45M under the cap before signing him. Their big thing is being under the LT threshold, but that will leave some money for acquisitions.